Seattlest Interview: Jason Holstrom, The Thieves of Kailua

Jason Holstrom may be known as a founding member of two local bands, Wonderful and United State of Electronica, as well as a producer for such acts as Dolour and Aqueduct, but now he's got a new group up his sleeve: The Thieves of Kailua, a one-man island-pop project. Through its sunny surf sounds, layered loungey vocals, and a mixture of production techniques both old and new, the self-titled album evokes a Hawaiian vacation--starting with the visitor's first enchanting aloha, the typical tourist encounters, and a brief brush with the titular thieves, all the way to a bittersweet "Hula-Bye." We spoke to Jason about his island adventures on the cusp of the Thieves of Kailua's CD release show: Thursday at Chop Suey, $8, doors 9pm, 21+.

You must have had the best trip to Hawaii ever to inspire an entire album.

Well, it was pretty magical. It’s an amazing place and I would say that trip to Hawaii definitely made a mark on me. It was a great time with my family and my girlfriend [now wife]. There were those highs, but it was a dynamic trip, because we got into a little trouble too.

About that: Following the story on the album, did you actually get robbed?

Yeah. Well no, that makes it sound quite violent, but our car got broken into. And as it is in the song, some things got stolen – credit cards and cameras, kind of important tourist items. That happened about mid-trip and the song is mid-album. I tried to follow somewhat of a narrative through the album that way.

Besides Hawaiian music and Hawaii itself, who or what would you credit as influences? There’s certainly hints of the Beach Boys (Brian Wilson in particular) and Van Dyke Parks.

Those are definitely influences. Van Dyke Parks has an album called Discover America that has a similar travelogue feel and also pays homage to calypso music. From being exposed to that record I was exposed to all this calypso, people like Lord Kitchener and Mighty Sparrow, also Harry Belafonte. Yeah, I’ve listened to the Beach Boys since I can remember, so that’s pretty ingrained in my mind. But I was also listening to Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, Martin Denny, João Gilberto. Music from all kinds of tropical places, probably moreso than actual Hawaiian music, were my major influences.

The Thieves of Kailua was recorded over a period of years. Was it challenging to conjure up the sounds of summer when it was rainy and cold in Seattle?

If it’s rainy and cold in Seattle, it only romanticizes those warm days that much more. I’d say that the height of the creativity as far as the writing and the beginnings of most of the songs probably took place in the spring and the summer of those years. But there’s a lot of other work that needs to go into an album besides the initial inspiration, and that had to be done in the winter. When we were planning to release the record, I couldn’t tell if it would be better to bring a little bit of sunshine to the world in the dead of winter or if it’d be better to release it in the summer. But I think it plays well now and hopefully it can also bring some sunshine when it’s not so bright out too.

How does the music translate live? On the album, you played just about every instrument, ukuleles and all, so how big of a band are you going to have onstage?

Right now we have a ten-man band. It’s totally fun, because it’s a bunch of my great friends, people that I’ve been close to and lived with and known for a long time. So right now, there are three ukuleles, two guitars, a slide guitar, two percussionists, an accordion, and we might have some horns, along with everyone singing. It’s becoming a pretty big production and I’d say it’s representing the music on the record pretty well. It was actually easier than I thought to put the band together. I looked around and realized it was a bunch of my best friends, and that’s great.

Now that this huge undertaking is finally out there for public consumption, what do you have on tap next?

This album was finished over a year ago, so it’s really exciting for it to have some momentum. I’m definitely going to have fun with these shows and do whatever I can to promote the record. One of my other bands, Wonderful, has been playing in Seattle for three years, and we have a full-length album that’s well on its way to being completed before the end of the year. All those dudes are playing in the Thieves live band too. On top of that, U.S.E. is active, we’re practicing regularly and working on a batch on songs that will become our next full-length, hopefully to come out next year. Those are the next couple projects, plus I’m always working on my own music here and there. I try to keep busy.

Photo by Par Andreasson.